Slots
by Fried Alaska
Summary: Just because she's been trained by Tsunade doesn't mean she gambles like her too. ONESHOT.


**Slots: by FriedAlaska**

**SUMMARY: **Just because she's been trained by Tsunade doesn't mean she gambles like her too.

Sakura hung her head in defeat, knowing that she had lost another day of swooning the machine in her favor. A series of disjointed fruits and numbers stared back at her. The army of colors and various lights were flashing, taunting her every move. She slapped her palms against the slot machine and gripped the shiny black handle violently, nearly snapping it off in the meantime. Her thoughts of violently trashing the place were hindered by a call of triumph a few feet away.

"Finally! Ichiraku, here I come!" Casually glancing to her right, she grimaced at some blonde with a tacky orange jumpsuit three seats down, jumping up and down from winning the latest jackpot. It was also obvious this idiot was going to spend thousands on bowls of ramen noodles.

She tore her eyes from his lit up machine, let go and flopped back in her seat. Sakura Haruno was not a quitter. However, this was perhaps more than she could chew. Hours had flown by before she had even hinted on winning 50 ryo, which quickly disappeared after a few more rounds on the days she was feeling particularly selfish. She was simply not cut out for this kind of lifestyle.

"Curses Tsunade." she growled, once again feeling bitter as a dark atmosphere cluttered her conscious stream of thinking. The conversations between her and her mentor flashed back in her mind, repeating over and over until they were literally tattooed in her mind.

"Sakura, we all know I'm not the greatest gambler." Sakura stopped and bit down a laugh at the understatement, as she recalled Tsunade's nickname was 'The Legendary Sucker.' She was simply notorious for losing at every game she played, and every dollar earned was ten dollars spent.

"But I could have a real chance at this!" She insisted. "Please Tsunade, I could win this for you!" A determined look plastered on her face and her fists tightly bound at her sides.

Tsunade cast her a glance, one eyebrow raised and the other forming a slight smile. She leaned back in her chair and folded her hands in front of her, contemplating Sakura's words.

"Alright." Tsunade's tone was haughty, as if an unofficial wager had been placed on her student and she was proud to see a smile brake out on Sakura's face.

"You have exactly 3 days to win back my 1,000,000."

"Of course, got it Tsunade-sama!" Sakura defiantly promised this task would be completed and she was about to turn around and start on it right away when it dawned on her, and she froze.

"1,000,000 ryo...?"

"Your A-rank mission awaits."

"Shit," Sakura muttered, running her hands through her hazardous looking pink hair. She could only imagine the chilling image she was projecting to the rest of the people in the area. A wave of hopelessness washed over her as she realized she didn't have much time left. 2 days had passed by, and with luck she would have 1,000 ryo sitting in her green drawstring bag. She was hungry, tired and just about to go blind from intensely staring at these machines for hours at a time.

"Need some help?" A warm voice offered, evidently said with a smile.

Sakura quickly jumped at the sound and turned to the boy seating himself next to her, carrying a box of ramen. The smile on his face oddly fit with his chaotic blonde hair that had to resemble hers in some way and lively blue eyes. She instantly recognized him as the one from earlier, although she couldn't believe he was still here.

"I noticed you've been at this for a while." He unsuccessfully tried to stifle a chuckle, as he looked from her machine back to her face. A light-hearted mood fell upon the both of them as she was surprisingly comfortable with his presence.

Sakura shoot her head. "I just naturally suck at this."

He laughed and gave her a knowing look. "I can tell."

She resisted the urge to give him a good whack across the shoulder but stopped and watched as he suddenly slid a coin in and pulled the lever. The machine next to hers came to life, spinning and bursting with colors until a fresh row of '7s' came across the screen.

She paused. A slip instantly popped out with a ding and within a minute, 250,000 ryo was his.

"But...how..?" She stuttered, unable to tear her eyes away the piece of paper that could potentially help save her sanity. The boy just smiled and tucked the slip away into his pockets. It took all her strength to look at him with pleading eyes and lips curled into a pout. This guy was her ticket to freedom.

As if oblivious, he stuck a hand out and offered it to her. "Naruto Uzumaki!"

Sakura was a bit taken back but concealed her astonishment by exchanging her hand and ratting off her name.

"Oi! Sakura, that's a pretty name." Now it was her turn to hide a laugh but as she turned to face him again, it appeared as though he was serious about this remark.

"Well...thanks." It was rare that she was to be at a loss for words but this one was strange. He then hastily turned to his stash of noodles and ripped apart the packaging.

"Want some?" He offered, wagging the box in front of her.

She narrowed her eyes and frowned in confusion.

"I don't think we're allowed to eat in here-"

"Oh that's just silly!" He brushed aside. "Anytime is ramen time."

She smiled at his philosophy and nodded, accepting a pack before he snatched it back with a look of newfound meaning on his face.

"I know where the microwaves are!" He exclaimed, excitement bursting from his seams. "I'll be right back."

Sakura gave a slight wave with her hands before a look of total and utter bewilderment continued to linger across her features. If it were anybody else, she would have taken the time to run out of the building, race to Tsunade's office and beg for forgiveness at her failures. However, Sakura's pride was on the line and Naruto knew how to win. If that meant sticking around while he heated up plastic containers of ramen, she would pull through.

After what seemed like an eternity, Naruto came back juggling the containers as the steam hit his face and fogged up his eyesight. Sakura let out a velvety laugh, one she hadn't been able to produce for a week already and gladly took one of the cups from him. He handed her a pair of chopsticks and kept _two _bowls at bay for himself.

"Two bowls?"

"Winners are always hungry!"

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"...Nothing Sakura-chan! Seriously!"

She stopped and chuckled at the weird name he just called her. She had taken a liking to this one, not in the romantic sort of way but in the I-feel-like-we've-been-friends-all-our-lives kind of way. They bickered over the correct way to hold chopsticks, which flavor they preferred their ramen (Miso ramen with extra pork for Naruto, regular Miso for Sakura), and where exactly to get the best noodles.

"That's easy." Naruto snorted, as if the ridiculousness of the question was not even worth his time. "Ichiraku!"

Sakura raised an eyebrow and continued swirling her ramen. "I can't say I've ever tried it."

Naruto's eyes instantly widened to the size of saucers and his mouth fell agape as a noodle flopped out.

"Trust me Sakura, the minute we get out of here, I'm taking you to Ichiraku!"

The realization hit and Sakura groaned. She had been so focused on _food_ of all things that she had forgotten she only had a few hours before this mission had to be completed. So far, all Naruto had been doing was winning thousands while she tried to hide her misfortunes by stuffing her face with noodles. She had contemplated asking him to win something for her, but that just felt _wrong._

He already gave her lunch and was keeping her company, but winning her millions? Impossible. Naruto noticed her distressed look and curiously reached out to take the lid off of another cup.

"Say, why are you here in the first place?" She raised an eyebrow at his interest and sighed, wondering where to begin.

"My mentor, Tsunade-sama has a habit of gambling. She's always been unlucky around these things and I thought if I were to be stronger than her one day...well, I'd have to conquer these machines as well." She stole a frustrated glimpse at the one sitting in front of her.

Naruto suddenly burst out laughing. "How long have you been trying this?" He asked in-between coughs and snickers.

She shot him a glare but the malice died instantly and instead she sighed pathetically. "2 days."

His laughter trailed off as he realized she was being serious. A look of empathy came over him as he finally realized what she was getting at.

"Don't worry about it Sakura-chan!" He smiled, and Sakura realized it was mostly to himself rather than to her. He dug into his pockets and emptied out the contents. Her breathing stopped and her jaw was slack as tickets up to 100,000,000 lay in the pile. "Just take some!"

She was dreaming. Definitely dreaming. In fact, she had never seen this much money placed in front of her in her entire life.

"How are you doing this?" She asked, baffled. "Why are you doing this?" Thousands of questions poured into her brain as she struggled to understand. For that matter, he didn't even _know her. _Was he some psychopath that wanted to secretly kill her after today? Or some criminal infamous for robbing casino's empty?

His smile stayed intact as he shrugged nonchalantly. "You seemed lonely."

Sakura's mouth went dry. "I don't know what to say." Her eyes bore into his for any sign of insincerity but she was met with two orbs of pure blue, confident in his decision.

After an awkward moment of silence, he rummaged through the pieces of paper, and pulled out the one she needed. She finally realized she had been holding her breath all this time and deeply exhaled, unsure of what to do next. Desperately, she need this but every moral being in her was screaming at her desires.

Naruto noticed the inner conflict and grabbed both of her shoulders, shaking her.

"Enough with the decision making." He insisted, a broad smile once again re-appearing on his face, whiskers pointing upwards and cheeks puffed. "I can't stand the ominous atmosphere!" Grabbing the slip, he shoved it in her hands and clasped his palms shut on top.

She looked down and refolded the piece of paper into her pockets. "I...I don't know how to thank you for this." Misery was oozing out of her pores, a sinking feeling creating knots in her stomach. "I'll repay you, I promise."

He laughed and gave her a thumbs up. "Why would you have to repay me?" Naruto asked, "We're friends right? That's just what friends do!"

She was going to counter with the fact that friends don't just give each other millions, but he waved it away, taking her by the hand and pulling her up.

"Besides, I'll just spend it all on more ramen anyway...whereas you actually have an objective with this money." He rationally stated, ignoring her stammers and confused looks.

"Common, we're burning daylight!"

"And where exactly, are we going?"

"You have to meet the dobe of course!"

"...The dobe?"

Naruto let out a giggle at the thought. "Well, I guess you could say he's my best friend. But he's always a dobe to me! You'll love him, he's broody, and filled with teen angst, and has dark hair that seems to be put together with Elmer's Glue and strongly resembles a chicken's ass..."

As Naruto rambled about all that there had to be done before the sunset, Sakura smiled, filled with content. There was just something about him, something familiar but sweet, and innocent.

"Naruto?"

"Hmm?"

"How _did _you manage to win so much?"

A sly look twitched at the corners of his mouth and a giddy feeling crossed over in a way that Sakura knew she would never actually know what was on his mind.

"Well Sakura-chan, I can't tell you that!" He jumped back, his face turned completely serious as he slowly glanced from left to right. Suddenly he whispered ever so softly in her ear, "I'm a wizard."

"A wizard." she repeated slowly, as if Naruto had simply said the wrong word, or used it in the wrong context. Somehow, she was not at all surprised at this.

"Shh! You're not supposed to say it aloud, I've broken at least like 4 rules of conduct now."

Sakura kept her mouth closed and refused to utter another word. She simply stared at him with eyes of indifference.

He stared back before wondering what all the looking was about.

"Anyways, onwards to Ichiraku later! Your treat this time!"

The moment passed and Sakura instead just let it all go, shaking her head. They gathered their stuff, and left the remaining cups of their cold, forgotten lunch and a few scraps of trash cluttered around two overused machines, the only remaining traces of their presence.


End file.
